Archive for the ‘Charlotte’ tag

There was a lot to see at the Charlotte AutoFair, and even with five editors roaming the grounds, there was no way that we could see it all. One of the treats was the strong turnout by Charlotte’s own Queen City Corvair Club, in honor of their favorite model’s golden anniversary. The car above, one of the nicest Monza Sport Sedans you’re ever likely to see, is a 1965 model owned by Richard Jenkins.

Anchoring the other end of the row was this beautiful Monza coupe, built in 1969, the Corvair’s last year of production. Production this year amounted to just 6,000 cars, 2,717 of which were Monza coupes. Club member Travis Jenkins is the owner; we have no idea if he’s related to Richard.

The club brought a couple of experimental engines that Chevrolet engineers had played around with. The one pictured above with the cutaway shrouding features one-piece cylinder barrels and heads…

…while this engine is equipped with Rochester mechanical fuel injection. I didn’t have the presence of mind to ask the club members where the engines had come from, but I know that the Corvair Preservation Foundation, a branch of the Corvair Society of America, has (or had) a fuel-injected engine in its collection. Pretty cool stuff.

The Queen City club also fielded a really interesting group of cars for display in the Nationwide Garage, led off by a Lakewood station wagon and a Greenbrier van. Behind the van are an early (1960-1964) convertible, a late (1965-1969) coupe, a late convertible and another late coupe.